“I don’t want to take it back,” he said in a low voice.
“You say that now.” Melissa sniffed, sounding so pitiful my heart broke a little more for her.
“I’ll say that always. I want to be with you. I’ve always wanted to be with you. Why are you so convinced we won’t last?”
“I’m not convinced,” she replied. “I’m just worried. I’m a planner. Us not working out can’t be part of the plan because it ruins the rest of my plans.”
Jack gave me a questioning look and I shrugged. I honestly had no idea what plans she referred to.
Dean laughed and Melissa sobbed a little louder, then whined, “Don’t laugh at me.”
“I’m not laughing at you. I’m in love with you.”
“You’re,” she paused, her voice catching, “in love with me? Even after everything?”
“I knew you’d eventually come around,” he said confidently. “I just got really tired of waiting and getting shot down.”
“You knew?”
“Well, I hoped. I hoped a lot,” he admitted and I smiled at the sound of it. “So, can we do this now? You and me? Can we make this happen?”
“Are you sure you want to?”
“How many times do I have to tell you the same thing? I want this. I want this now. I’ll want this tomorrow. I’ll want this forever.”
“You don’t know that,” she said softly. “You can’t be sure.”
Dean sighed. “Melissa, I’m so convinced we’ll last until we die, that I’d bet money on it.”
“Oh yeah? What kind of money?” she asked in such a normal voice that I couldn’t stop my laughter from bursting free. “Hey!” she called out to us. “I hear you in there. Eavesdroppers.”
“Takes one to know one!” I shouted in response before hearing the familiar sounds of kissing.
I smacked Jack’s shoulder again and pulled from his grip to creep toward the door that separated the kitchen from the garage. Peeking around the door, the sight I saw made me cover my face with my hands. The sight of them actually kissing in public, well, at least in front of other people, was bizarre after the history they’ve had.
I resisted the temptation to light off fireworks, or hire a band. We’d all waited so long for this to happen, I wanted the whole world to know it finally had. When I turned to walk back to Jack, neither one of us could stop grinning. He opened his arms and I fell into them, kissing each dimple once before finding his mouth.
“I am so happy for them! My God, can you believe it?”
His tongue teased my bottom lip before begging for entry into my mouth. I complied, letting the beer-flavored taste of him consume me.
“Jeez, you two, get a room,” Melissa teased, and I pulled away from my husband to see her wrapped in Dean’s arms.
I gave a little huff. “You’re one to talk. You two need the room. You have a lot of make-up sex to have,” I teased as Dean perked up.
“I like that idea. I think she’s right.” Dean looked down at my fun-sized best friend and kissed her.
“Don’t you have a date to get to?” Jack asked pointedly, like a smartass.
Dean winced. “I think I’m late.”
“Tell me you at least canceled and the poor girl isn’t sitting at home wondering where you are?” I pinned him with the “mom” look I’ve been practicing lately in the mirror, and he chuckled.
“Who do you think I am? Jack?”
Melissa shook her head, then sucked in a breath before admitting, “I hope you’re done dating other people.”
“I hope you’re done dating anyone. Ever. ‘Cause it’s never happening for you again.”
“Is that so?” she fired back, my little spitfire reemerging, which made me very happy. A meek and broken Melissa was so not the girl I knew and loved.
“Deny it all you want,” Dean told her. “Be scared all you want. I’ll be here to remind you. This is the real deal right here. Me and you?” he said, drawing a finger between the two of them. “This is gonna last.”
“So this is really happening? The two of you are finally a flipping couple! Am I dreaming?” I walked over to Melissa and hugged her before doing the same to Dean.
“You’re not, but I think I am,” Melissa said dryly.
Jack opened the fridge and pulled out two beers. “Time to man up. Drink,” he said, tossing a can at Dean. “Fun-Size, you need another shot of liquid courage? Not that it helped.”
Dean looked down at her, a playful smile on his face. “You did shots before I got here?”
“Correction, I did a shot. One. And yeah. I thought I was going to throw up on your shoes if I didn’t.”
He wiggled his right foot. “I like these shoes.”
I hopped up on the counter, my legs and feet dangling over the side. “Hey, I have a question.”
Melissa’s perfect little eyebrows drew together as she asked, “What is it?”
“While Jack was eavesdropping on you guys, and I couldn’t help but overhear because I refuse to leave his side,” I said innocently as Jack poked me in the ribs. “What did you mean about all your plans? Or the rest of your plans or something?”
She pressed her lips together before blurting out, “It’s all wrapped up in the same thing. The breakup. I lose him first,” she said, pointing at Dean before continuing. “Then I lose my best friend. And then I lose her kids. And so that means that I don’t get to have kids with you and our kids won’t be best friends and we won’t move next door to each other or raise our babies together or do any of the things that I completely plan on doing with you. Because that’s what best friends do. We have kids together and shop together and our families grow up together.”